But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” Luke 9:55–56 (NKJV)
God has made us more than conquers (Romans 8:37). This means we have the power to conquer in every area of our lives. However, we need to understand what kind of conquerors we are.
We are not empowered to dominate or control others. You see, there is a big difference between power and force.
Some leaders force people to follow them through control and manipulation. But Jesus wasn’t that kind of leader. He didn’t overthrow those who came against Him, and yet you’ll never find someone more filled with power.
In Luke 9, Jesus had set out for Jerusalem. He sent messengers ahead of him to a Samaritan village to prepare somewhere for him to stay, but He was not welcomed there because the Samaritans and Jews didn’t get along.
James and John heard about it and were angry, so they asked Jesus if He wanted them to call fire down from heaven to destroy these people (v. 54). They knew that Elijah had once called down fire to destroy his enemies, which served a purpose at the time, but they didn’t understand that Jesus was a different kind of leader.
It’s one thing to make people follow you; it’s another to make them want to follow you. Jesus wasn’t interested in forcing people to follow Him. After all, that’s not how to capture someone’s heart, and Jesus wants our hearts!
As a follower of Christ, you walk in power, not force. God is guiding you in every area of life to be His kind of conqueror!